The invention relates to a sealing arrangement for the press zone of a dual belt press equipped with pressure chambers and/or lubricant chambers, consisting of sealing strips held on press plates and receiving in a groove a profiled sealing joint abutting against a revolving belt.
Sealing arrangements for dual belt presses are known (e.g. see DE-OS No. 19 34 641). These sealing arrangements are intended to seal-off the press zone in which, for example by the introduction of oil under pressure, a pressure as uniform as possible is generated in the reaction zone, while optionally also producing simultaneously a desired temperature gradient. As these sealing arrangements are abutting against the revolving belts, there arises the problem of how the sliding friction forces acting on the seals may be absorbed in a simple manner, without the risk of having the mainly elastic gaskets pulled from their grooves and folded down.
It is further known (e.g., see DE-P No. 27 22 197) to encompass the sliding seals in U-shaped ledges, equipped with special angle supports which absorb the shear forces and also retain the possibility to have the seals themselves pressured by the pressure medium against the revolving belts. However, such sealing configurations are very costly and failure prone in actual operations.
In addition, it is known (e.g., see DE-OS No. 34 17 288) to configure the seals as serpentine-shaped members, whereby the friction forces exerted by the belt against the seal will be directed generally transversely of the extent of the seal, so the seal will not be displaced from its mounting groove. However, the mounting of the seals into the press frame can be accomplished only with great difficulty.
It is an object of the present invention to develop a sealing arrangement of the above-mentioned serpentine type wherein the shear forces acting in the longitudinal direction may be effectively absorbed and wherein the sealing strips can be easily mounted in the press frame.